the end of the line

 

11-08-23 Every year around now I take the train to Tweedbank and run 3miles up the road to the famous rickety fence where a large colony of Scotch Argus can be found hiding in the long grass in the Eildon foothills. They are the final species to emerge of the year and so there is a certain sadness that things are coming to a close. I waited a bit longer this year as the weather window did not fully open until a few days had passed. I resisted the temptation to turn up early when although the butterflies are super-fresh you have to scour the site for them. This time, every place I walked 7~10 argus would flutter out the grass and skip along until they settled again. This colony is a notoriously unobliging group and rarely pose for photos, so it helped to have literally hundreds of specimens to work with. 

I see this sculpture outside the Edinburgh Council buildings about twice a year when catching a train at Waverley. I have no strong feelings about it, but having arrived in plenty time for the train*, I took a photo and decided it was time to have an opinion about it! Okay here goes...

Everyman by Stephan Balkenhol. To me it looks like 2 very disparate sculptures bolted together. The carved figure and the scaffolding podium. Had the scaffolding podium not been painted in bright colours it might have just looked like a presentation platform, a plinth. However it is painted like one of those emotionless industrial forms (Untitled 7; in blue, red, green and yellow painted steel) you might see in a contemporary gallery and that means nothing, has no emotional resonance, but looks very much like modern art. Reading a bit more about the artist's intentions I'm pretty sure it's just a plinth. So ignore the bright colours.

Exactly the same problem occurs with a twin piece at the top of this article about the artist - a giant gold ball on a frame which dwarfs the similarly carved dude on top. I wonder are these presentation methods a way of upping the scale, impact and ultimately, price of the piece? Because (in my opinion) they greatly detract from what seems to be the aim of the artist. Which is to have no meaning. His figures are supposed to be joe public, the everyman. Nobody famous, no particular person. Surely putting them at ground level among the public would be a better way to convey this? Not hiking them up a contrived plinth. Read the article by the way, it is far more sympathetic than my assassination.

I quite like the other works on the same webpage. The painted wood painting and the three animal headed figures. And the writing about the artist and his intentions are well put across. There are much worse works by the same artist elsewhere on the internet. I was unfamiliar with this artist until I looked up the Everyman piece. 

Other quibbles: I thought it was about race. The dude has brown skin. Certainly compared to the whites of his eyes or shirt. But ginger hair. What's going on there? Is he a composite? A frankenstein creation of different elements? It was almost with relief I read the blurb about how we are not meant to assume or bestow any meaning on this work. And yet if that is the case why create such ambiguous pointers (like the confusing plinth.) Is it just a lack of skill on the artists behalf? Also, returning to the scaffolding I have always read that as a tower from which the mixed race person was about to jump from, with an invisible noose around his neck. Suicide or lynching was unclear, maybe part of the conundrum. Clearly this is just a collection of misinterpretations in my head and not the artist's intentions.

Which is why I ultimately give this piece the thumbs down. The artist has roundly failed to convey his intentions and I have made up a fictional backstory that contradicts what the artist was aiming at. While googling, I saw the average rating on trip advisor seemed to hover about 2 stars out of 5 with many harsher critiques than my own. Nobody thought the price tag of £100k was money well spent!

the end of the line at Tweedbank

*I had arrived early in case I had to have an argument at the barrier. I bought my ticket online (the previous night) via Trainline: a cheap day return for the 9.15am train. Now this may or may not be a peak rate train; Trainline (and pretty much everyone else, and even google) is very cagey or unspecific about when Peak Time actually is. And it changes depending on stations or towns, arriving or departing. Capital cities are far stricter. But Trainline actually specified I could use my cheap day return on this particular train. The price difference between a cheap day return and a peak rate / anytime is considerable. I bought the former online knowing they might have a glitch in the system which I viewed as a special offer but arrived early in case I had to argue my case. Sure enough at the automatic barrier my collected ticket would not allow me through. I did not ask why but the station attendant at the next gate looked at my ticket and waved me through.

So I am none the wiser but suspect Trainline don't have their ducks in a row, but if I enquire too formally I might also lose access to cheap day returns for what might be peak rate times. BTW I bought a single fare to Dunbar the other week from the machine in Waverley and it asked for the specific time of the train which was just after 5pm and as a result it nearly doubled the usual price. So it is worth buying online tickets from Trainline. At least until they sort out their glitch.

not this one

That's quite a lot of text before the first butterfly is even spotted. Onwards! I have a thing about re-enacting previous years photos when repeating a journey like this. I knew there was a traffic mirror thing on the run in through the outskirts of Melrose and thought it was about time to celebrate it.

this one. 2019

2022

2023, best yet!

Then across the road there was a buddleia. At this time of the year my eyes are always scanning them for commas, RAs and peacocks and sure enough there were loads of peacocks and one admiral.

Quite a lot of steep ascent up Dingleton Rd past the golf course before this path across the fairway to the rickety fence. The fence is in such disrepair that an old metal railing has been tied into the dilapidation. 

2023 map showing fence as 2 dark lines

This year there seemed to be more SA action left (West) of the fence. 

gps map from 2019

comma in oak tree crossing the golf course

common darter on the golf course

the rickety fence with additional metal railing

These photos are not the best argus pics but do illustrate their habits and environment perfectly. They will appear when you approach them and then fly along skimming the ground for ages as if hunting for something, then if they do settle it will normally be into the deepest darkest longest grasses, where it is almost impossible to get a decent photo. It is frustrating with occasional glimpses of triumph as one lands on a thistle head for a short time giving you a a brief opportunity for a photo, then back down to the ground. I have found them elsewhere (across the West of the country) sitting atop ragwort and happy to pose, so I suspect this lot have become grass huggers due to years of living surrounded by long grasses and few flowering plants on which to pose. It makes the hunt quite discouraging and about 90mins is about all I can take before I go off to walk up the Eildons.

plenty peacocks about!
I know this one is out of focus but I liked the image, so it's in!

shaded broad-bar moth

small copper

right, enough - let's go climb a hill

The Eildons are just behind the rickety fence but there does not seem to be a path between the 2. Iain C later confirmed the last time he tried to find a line he had a terrible time with all sorts of natural and man made hazards blocking the way. I go out onto the main road and run up to Bowden Loch, walk past the fishermen - an unusually blunt and brusque set who do not greet fellow travellers with a cheery good-day. On previous trips up here I have come across painted ladies (the butterflies) on top of the hill, common hawkers (the dragonflies) at the lochan, and Northern Eggar caterpillars at the rocky circle just below the summit. This year the wind was blowing gale force up there so everything was indoors watching the telly and there was nothing but landscape to point the camera at. Actually there was a possibly-painted-lady but it lifted off and caught the wind and was in the next county in no time and no photos were taken.

overcast on way up

2023

2020

2018

So just before the summit there is this rock circle. On a previous trip I found 2 Northern Eggar caterpillars on the rocks. If it had been just one I'd have had a quick shufty and moved on, but 2! I did a couple of circles and scrutinised the area so closely I saw a shieldbug nymph there. It is either a spined shieldbug nymph (final instar) or heather shieldbug nymph or similar. All the caterpillars must have blown away. Same with odonata at the unnamed lochan. 

from a distance

up close

sunny on way down

There was a lot of high energy weather whizzing by. These clouds looked fantastic and the trees were swaying in the strong breeze. There was a common darter on the path which I photo-ed to represent all of the other dragonflies I didn't see. Usually there are some damselflies on the shore of Bowden Loch but I didn't really bother to chase them this year, and the anglers give anyone not carrying a rod such a long leery look that I could not be arsed with any of that.

in the distance: Belted Galloways

Back to the rickety fence. I nearly ran past but felt my photos of today's Scotch Argus (so far) weren't up to snuff and really I should try harder. I also thought I could just post the best ones from the last 3 or 4 years, and seriously questioned why I didn't just do this. They are my photos, it saves disturbing the butterflies, I am unlikely to get better pics. Why not? Actually the faint hope of getting THE Scotch Argus photo, the defining and perfect shot, is the reason. You never know what you are missing if you are not out there doing the business! And if that fails, then copy and paste last year's lot.

Fairly soon I came across this mating pair. Well now that is at least one aspect of their behaviour patterns covered. And they tend to be less flighty when coupled. Win win. I stumbled around a bit more of their territories although it is quite heavy going, the ground being tussocky, swampy and with plenty opportunities for brushing up against gorse, nettle and bramble. 

This was the smallest small copper I'd ever seen. Initially I thought it was maybe chopped in half by a bird but when I saw it through the camera I realised it was perfectly formed, just tiny. But without putting a matchbox beside it for scale there is no way of showing this.

Now that is a handsome toad!

I was very pleased with this one. Not only was it in good condition, but it sat on top of several thistles consecutively for long enough for me to get some photos. Hallelujah! I can go home now!

other stuff

small skipper

final peacock of the day
then camera away and run back 3 miles to the station. done!

10miles, 5hrs